Adding Backgrounds to Text Boxes

You can add background settings to a text box. This includes the ability to specify a color, an image, and a repeating pattern for the background image. This can be done through styles or by using local formatting. Using styles is usually recommended because the setting is automatically applied to any content using that style throughout the project, whereas local formatting affects only the particular content that you are working on.

How to Use a Style to Add a Background to a Text Box

1. From the Content Explorer, open the stylesheet that you want to modify.

2. Complete one of the following sets of steps, depending on whether you want to use the Simplified view or Advanced view in the Stylesheet Editor.

   • Simplified The Simplified view displays styles in a grid view and is often best for brand new users.

     This view provides an easy way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar and dialogs (similar to the way one would use an interface such as Microsoft Word). In some cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, autonumbering format, borders, background). One advantage of the Simplified view is that you can apply a property to multiple styles at the same time. You can also click a check box to hide the properties in the editor, allowing you to see only the styles.

   • Advanced The Advanced view displays styles in a tree structure, and despite the name, is user friendly for authors of all levels.

     For the properties, you can toggle between a grouped display and an alphabetical display. The Advanced view of the Stylesheet Editor lets you edit more settings than are available in the Simplified view. In addition, the Advanced view lets you see and apply settings to multiple mediums and media queries at the same time.

   Warning Mediums can be used if you want to use one group of settings for online output types and another group of settings for print-based output types. For example, you might use the default medium for your online outputs and the print medium for your print outputs.  From the Medium drop-down in the Stylesheet Editor, make sure the proper medium is selected before you begin. In the Advanced view, you can open multiple mediums at once; you just need to look at the title at the top of the medium pane and make sure you are working in the correct one. If you are not using stylesheet mediums for your different outputs or if you want all mediums to have the same settings, just leave the medium set to default and continue. Please note that Flare remembers the last medium that you used when working in the stylesheet, so it may or may not be the one that you want to use the next time around. See Mediums and Media Queries.

   If Using Simplified View

   1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
   2. In the upper-left corner of the Stylesheet Editor, click in the drop-down field and select .
   3. Select the appropriate div style. If you use the default style when inserting the text boxes, then select div. Otherwise, if you have used a class of that style that you created previously, then select it instead.
   4. In the local toolbar of the editor, click . The Properties dialog opens.
   5. Select the Background tab.
   6. Use the tab to specify the settings that you want for the background.

      To set a color for the background

      In the Color field, click the down arrow and select a color from the popup. For advanced color options, select More Colors and use the fields in the Color Picker dialog.

      To add an image to the background

      1. Next to the Image field, click the Browse button. The Insert Image dialog opens.

      2. Select an image file to insert. You can do this in one of the following ways.
      • Select an image already in the project by finding and selecting it in the built-in tree.
      • Click to find and select an image file outside of the project.

      Note If you want to select an image file recently inserted into your project, click the down arrow in the field next to the button, and select the file from the list.

      3. Click OK.
      4. If you want the background image to repeat, select one of the options from the Repeat field. You can also set the image position horizontally and vertically by using the X and Y fields.
   7. In the Properties dialog, click OK.

   If Using Advanced View

   1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays . If the button displays instead, then click it.
   2. In the upper-left corner of the Stylesheet Editor, click in the drop-down field and select .

   3. Select the appropriate div style. If you use the default style when inserting the text boxes, then select div. Otherwise, if you have used a class of that style that you created previously, then select it instead.

   4. From the Show drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select .
   5. (Optional) You can use the toggle button in the local toolbar to show properties below in a group view or an alphabetical view .
   6. If you are using the grouped view, expand the Background group.
   7. Locate the background property that you want to change.

      To set a color for the background

      To the right of background-color, click and select a color. For advanced color options, click and use the fields in the Color Picker dialog, or click to select a color already used elsewhere on your screen. You can use the Color Picker to select a CSS variable.

      To add an image to the background

      1. To the right of background-image, click . The Insert Image dialog opens.

      2. Select an image file to insert. You can do this in one of the following ways.

         • Select an image already in the project by finding and selecting it in the built-in tree.
         • Click to find and select an image file outside of the project.

         Note If you want to select an image file recently inserted into your project, click the down arrow in the field next to the button, and select the file from the list.

      3. If you want the background image to repeat, click to the right of background-repeat and select one of the options from the drop-down (definitions from http://www.w3.org).
         • no-repeat The image is not repeated: only one copy of the image is drawn.
         • repeat The image is repeated both horizontally and vertically.
         • repeat-x The image is repeated horizontally only.
         • repeat-y The image is repeated vertically only.
3. Click to save your work.

How to Use Local Formatting to Add a Background to a Text Box

1. Open the content file.
2. Right-click inside the text box and from the menu, select Text Box. The Text Box Properties dialog opens.

3. Select the Background tab.
4. Use the tab to specify the settings that you want for the background.

   To set a color for the background

   In the Color field, click the down arrow and select a color from the popup. For advanced color options, select More Colors and use the fields in the Color Picker dialog.

   To add an image to the background

   1. Next to the Image field, click the Browse button. The Insert Image dialog opens.
   2. Select an image file to insert. You can do this in one of the following ways.
   • Select an image already in the project by finding and selecting it in the built-in tree.
   • Click to find and select an image file outside of the project.

   Note If you want to select an image file recently inserted into your project, click the down arrow in the field next to the button, and select the file from the list.

   3. Click OK.
   4. If you want the background image to repeat, select one of the options from the Repeat field. You can also set the image position horizontally and vertically by using the X and Y fields.
5. In the Text Box Properties dialog, click OK.
6. Click to save your work.